Genre and portrait painter Louis Edward Grenet, 1856-1922, was born in San Antonio. His merchant father's import business near the Alamo, may have enhanced the young future artist's awareness of the world, for he would spend much of his life in Europe.

In 1878, he studied in New York City at the National Academy of Design and Art Students League, returning to San Antonio in 1879, where he established a studio until 1885. Grenet's painting of artist John Conrad Beckmann's portrait, in the early 1880s, is thought to have encouraged that young artist in his career as a portrait painter.

Traveling to Paris in 1885, Grenet studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts with Alexandre Cabanel, and the Academic Julian, with Tony Robert-Fleury a...